iPhone DevTeam finally releases PwnageTool

Jailbreaking is sooo last month. The PwnageTool opens up the iPhone for …

First there was the iPhone jailbreak, and it was good. The ability to install third-party apps on an iPhone or iPod touch was hailed by many, and there was much rejoicing. Today, the iPhone moves beyond mere jailbreaking and third-party apps to being fully pwned. After a delay announcement earlier this week, the iPhone DevTeam has released the PwnageTool.

The PwnageTool allows a user to install unsigned apps developed with the official iPhone SDK, or just about anything else you can think of. This has broad implications for installing heavily modified versions of the iPhone OS, unsigned third-party applications, or possibly a different OS entirely (said to be in the works).

The team is confident that the PwnageTool is "Apple proof," due to its deep hooks into the iPhone's boot loading process. The PwnageTool itself is comprised of two separate tools. iPwner is what actually opens up the iPhone for running any software on it, and the ISPW Builder tool allows users to edit the .ipsw (the file format for the iPhone OS bundle downloaded through iTunes) to do... well, just about whatever you want.

So far, Apple hasn't done much to stop jailbreaking and unlocking efforts, though it also isn't bound to working with or around these hacks either. Since the iPhone DevTeam doesn't ship or distribute any iPhone firmware or other IP it doesn't own, the PwnageTool is probably here to stay. If you start pwning your iPhone, though, you would be wise to think twice before jumping on any official firmware updates Apple releases in the future. At least not right away.

While this version of the PwnageTool is Mac OS X-only, a Windows version is in testing right now. It is expected to be released in the next few days.